Distrust of self-parking cars

by Ebony Hall

DSC_0841

Are you good at parallel parking? A new AAA survey shows while 80% of American drivers are confident in their parallel parking abilities, just 25% trust new parking technology. AAA tested the technology and "found self-parking technology outperformed unassisted drivers in four key areas."

AAA worker with the Automobile Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center to test self-parking on five vehicles: a 2015 Lincoln MKC, a 2015 Mercedes-Benz ML400 4Matic, a 2015 Cadillac CTS-V Sport, a 2015 BMW i3 and a 2015 Jeep Cherokee Limited.

Self-parking systems parallel parked the vehicle using 47 percent fewer maneuvers, with some systems completing the task in as little as one maneuver.

Self-parking systems were able to park a vehicle 10 percent faster.

Self-parking systems were able to park 37 percent closer to the curb.

"AAA's testing found that self-parking technology outperformed manual parking in number of curb strikes, number of maneuvers, speed and accuracy," said Megan McKernan, manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California's Automotive Research Center. "While Americans report feeling confident in their parallel parking abilities, this technology proves there is room for improvement."

They also report, this newer technology does have flaws like parking "exceedingly close to the curb, leaving wheels and tires vulnerable to scratches and costly repairs."

"AAA recommends that drivers leave six-to-eight inches between the vehicle and the curb when parallel parking," warned Nielsen. "With some systems leaving as little as a half-inch buffer, AAA urges automakers to increase this distance to prevent vehicle damage."